Month: February 2017

What Started Out As Me Creating A Land During Some Downtime, And In The Mist Of Looking To Get Back Into Dungeons & Dragons Again, But For The Moment, As A Player…

Though Generally I DM, And Thus Have Made Many Homebrew Lands, Creatures & Campaigns

And Thus, Came Tch’ahm Ba’er, Which You Can Check Out HERE If You’re Looking For Some Content, Or Inspiration As A DM… Or A Player

It’s Written Up Based On A Basic/Expert/AD & D Dungeons & Dragons Blend, Which Is What I Play

Though Now It Looks As Though I Will Be Partaking In A New, Most Likely 5e, Campaign With A Friend & Associate Of Mine…

And So, Being He Doesn’t Have A Lot Of Time To Design A Homebrew, I Offered Him Tch’ahm Br’er To Use As A Foundation For The Campaign

And Beginning With The Name (Which He Renamed From My Original Name, Which Was Cham Bae Island (Which I Didn’t Care For, And Told Him He Was Welcome To Come Up With Something Better, Which I Feel He Did)

Now He’s Started Working On The Synopsis For The Campaign, And Began Transferring My Rustic Pen & Paper Map Above To This…

Which I Thought Was Very Cool… And Now To This

Which Blows Me Away… He Also Shifted Some Things Around From The Original As Noted Below In His Accompanying Note

Here is the completed Map for the synopsis. I swapped only a few things around, I put two different “Torn Regions” for goblins, swapped the northern Torn with The Heights. I swapped the Tum hills with the renamed Clockwood Grove to fit the topography and align them with more realistic region changes. I also changed the name of Mount Ridge to Orphinshtalr Ridge, Sheridan Falls to Shridan Falls, and Mount Hhad to Hhad Mountain Range. I’ll be starting on the synopsis soon.

For Those Of You That Are Using The Content, And Want To Update The Info You May Have Gotten From My Original Tch’ahm Ba’er Post

All Is Well In D & D Land…

We May Begin Session ‘0’ As He Called It On Monday Night, Should My Schedule Allow

The Green Orcs are standard D & D Orcs. The Red, Black and White Orcs I created in my Homebrew Land several years back. There are 1,200 Green Orcs, 240 Red Orcs, 20 Black Orcs and 50 White Orcs in Mt. Hhand.

In addition to the large number of Orcs in Mt. Hhad, they are also allied with 16 Frost Giants and 60 Ogres

The Black Orcs of Mt. Hhand await someone to Lead them to further conquering of Tch’ahm Ba’er territories. Until then, they are ready.

RED ORCS; Basically, Red Orcs are the Engineers… Their Alignment is Neutral, all they care about is their work. Kind of like Dwarves. They run and build the Catapults, Bridges Etc. They are however smarter, stronger and wiser than Green Orcs.

BLACK ORCS; Black Orcs are the Generals… And sometimes Champions. They are highly Intelligent, extremely strong, and just plain tough to kill. They are Lawful Evil. Very Noble beings. However, they generally don’t Rule. They often function under the orders of some Great Sorcerous/Sorcerer/Necromancer or some other sort of Dark Leader, Human or other.

WHITE ORCS; White Orcs exist primarily in cold terrain. They are stronger and smarter than Red Orcs, but not as strong or smart as Black Orcs. They are however the most Dexterous of Orcs. They are Hunters. They are very hard to kill. They follow orders, but they do not blend in.

The Tum Hills Dwarves a mining people (300), it’s what they do, with 200 Axemen to protect them. Their Leader is Ratha. I had originally planned on having Cleric Dwarves (maybe 50) as well, if you’d like, I can generate some for you and send the stats. Ratha can also be a Cleric.

The Glane Boro Sands is a large area of land inhabited and controlled by The Dark Tribe. They very much resemble an Arab people. Their Leader is A Prince (I have not named him, feel free to), and at his side his sister and Princess. (Also, not named yet). The Prince also has a very strong, intelligent and wise Captain of the Guard (Also not named). The Dark Tribe are quite ambivalent towards other Races, and thus are not very open to having others within their borders. (Neutral Alignment)

STR 16+2 INT 12 WIS 10 DEX 16+2 CON 16+2 CHAR 6-2 2HD HP 18 AC 3 (Chainmail, smarter and wiser then the Swordsmen, the Swordsmen and the Archers also have a fairly hostile rivalry, each of them thinking they are the primary protectors of the land)

You could perhaps throw an Advisor and/or Sorcerer at Xaczon’s side…

SUN HILLS

Gnomes

The Sun Hills Gnomes have no protection… They look to build Towers on the borders, and hire either Mages or Mercenaries to protect them. Perhaps they are Monks? Up to you (Neutral or Good Alignment)

…Prince Eradyn and his sister, Lady Mora. While her brother is busy Leading their people, with Captain Prayda The Strong, and Lieutenants Seer The Agile & Whisp The Wise at his side, Lady Mora is also an Assassin who always has her 8 Assassin Protégés (All female) nearby.

PRINCE ERADYN; (Prince Eradyn can pretty much be any Class you would like… Perhaps a Dark Cleric? Evil Alignment)

LIEUTENTANT WHISP; (Whisp is the Wisest of the Captains, and smartest of them all, including the Prince and Lady Mora… but he is also last to speak. Whisp is Neutral, but puts on the appearance of Evil for his own survival)

The Hammen Hills Gnomes by the sea, have many in their lands (2,000 Civilians), and are protected by 200 Swordsmen, 50 Rogues and 3 Great Mages. They have recently build three Towers, where each of the 3 Mages lives, along with 20 Swordsmen, and 5 Rogues a piece. Though their protection is not strong, they are constantly training their people to become Swordsmen, and each of the Mages is looking for an Apprentice so that they might build more Magic into their defenses.

They currently don’t have a leader, one is up for election, and so are guided by the 3 Mages in the interim.

3 MAGES; (I Have not named them, feel free to. Also, I have not determined their Spells, I thought you might like to. But if you prefer it, I will and can. Good Alignment)

In The Northern Crags of Tch’ahm Ba’er, there is known to be an extremely large, and extremely mean Storm Giant. There is much info. about them in the AD & D Monster Manual, and likely New Edition Monster Manuals.

I shall give you some info., but not all.

STORM GIANT;

15HD + 2-7 (1D6+) PER HD I’D GIVE HIM ABOUT 175 HP/DAMAGE ATTACK 7-42 (7D6) BY WEAPON, HURL A LIGHTNING BOLT ONCE A DAY 8-64 (8D8) (MUST SUMMON STORM FIRST, WHICH HE CAN WITH A SPELL ONCE PER DAY) OTHER SPELLS HE CAN CAST ONCE PER DAY INCLUDE PREDICT WEATHER AND CALL LIGHTNING (3 BOLTS OF 10-15 D6 LIGHTNING) AND CONTROL WINDS. 70% THEY HAVE 1-2 ROCS, WHICH THEY CAN RIDE 30% THEY HAVE 1-4 GRIFFONS. THEY ARE EXCEPTIONALLNY INTELIGENT CHAOTIC GOOD ALIGNMENT (Though I am bending this, mine is either Evil, or Chaotic Evil) 21 FEET TALL

Any other info. you’re on your own, lol

I have not named this Giant (Name as you like)

TORN HILLS

Goblins

At the Northern tip of Tch’ahm Ba’er are the Torn Goblins. You might consider Rolling up a Goblin King, if you do you might make him 6HD HP 36 AC 5 (Chainmail Armour) I’m sure you have more info. about Goblins in one of your Gaming Books!

Imagine a game of Dungeons & Dragons between Ellie from The Last of Us, Chun-Li from Street Fighter, Phoenix Wright from Ace Attorney, and Knuckles from Sonic the Hedgehog, with Overwatch’s McCree serving as dungeon master. While that scenario isn’t going to happen, a D&D campaign featuring the actors who lend their voices to those characters has been running for more than a year, attracting millions of viewers.

This article originally appeared in issue 285 of Game Informer.

The idea for Critical Role came from a game of Dungeons & Dragons that was started as a part of actor Liam O’Brien’s birthday celebration.

“Liam hadn’t played for a while, and I was running games,” says dungeon master Matthew Mercer. “I was like, ‘Hey man, if you want to play, let’s get some friends together,’ and so we did a one-off that turned into a campaign because everybody enjoyed themselves so much.”

Two years after that original game, TV and movie actress Ashley Johnson was shooting a web series called Spooked with actress Felicia Day, who was serving as executive producer. Day had recently co-founded a multimedia production company and commercial YouTube channel called Geek & Sundry. When Day noticed that Johnson had a copy of the D&D Player’s Handbook, she inquired about it, discovering Johnson was in a game with voice actors like Mercer (whom Day already knew). Day immediately asked the group to consider streaming it as a show on the channel.

While the idea was enticing, the group was concerned about taking their fun private game public. “Whenever you put something you love on the internet, there’s a very good chance that the internet is just going to tear you apart,” Mercer says. “So we had a real fear of it possibly tainting something that was so personal to us.”

Actress Marisha Ray echoes Mercer’s concern that it would destroy something they loved. “We all kind of took a vow at the table that if it wasn’t fun or it started compromising friendships or anything like that, that we would quit because it’s not worth it,” she says.

The group decided that if they were going to do it, then the format should provide as little disruption to the game flow as possible. Streaming on Geek & Sundry’s Twitch channel allowed for more free-form broadcasts before being archived on the YouTube channel, allowing great convenience and flexibility for the actors’ busy schedules.

Even though the format was set, the group was concerned that nobody would want to sit and watch people play Dungeons & Dragons for hours on end. “I think we just thought, ‘Well, whether or not people watch it, we’ll just try this and it’ll be an adventure, and if nobody watches it, we’ll just go back into the living room and play it,” Johnson says. “No big deal.'”

Despite the cast’s concerns, the show has resonated with fans of both tabletop games and the personalities. The initial episode has more than 2.5 million views on YouTube. Subsequent episodes have hundreds of thousands of views.

“The amazing thing is that it’s just blown up…not only for them being famous voice actors and amazing performers, but their love of D&D is so authentic,” Day says. “It’s really important to Geek & Sundry because it’s our flagship show, and support really anchors our live-stream programming that’s every single day.”

When I ask Mercer why he thinks it has resonated with so many people, he laughs in be wil derment. “I don’t know, man!” he says. “For a lot of older gamers who don’t have the time to play anymore because of work and family and responsibilities, this is their kind of game-by-proxy. They can listen to the adventure like a radio play, or watch it and still feel like this is part of their own adventure, so this is an outlet for that thing they miss.”

Travis Willingham, who plays Grog Strongjaw in the campaign, thinks one of the reasons it has been such a hit is because it helps further smash the early stereotypes associated with D&D. “There was a stigma for a long time for people who would play D&D – this basement-dwelling, mouth-breathing thing, and that’s not the case at all,” he says. “Our cast, the group of our friends is just made up of jocks and voice actors and directors and people who come from all backgrounds.”

With so many backgrounds in play, Critical Role is also helping to push away the outdated stereotype that D&D is a game only men play. “I think having this kind of visibility of seeing a game with a diverse cast with men and women and seeing the different aspects of the game that we bring to it makes a huge difference,” says actress Laura Bailey. “A lot of girls have written me on Twitter or on Facebook and said, ‘I never knew this was something I was allowed to do, and now that I’ve seen you guys playing, I’ve started actively finding a group. I went to a local game shop and I found people that are playing, and I’m now playing D&D regularly.'”

For Johnson, the misconception that the game was only for men prevented her from checking Dungeons & Dragons out sooner, but breaking down walls isn’t the only reason she’s glad Critical Role has strong female representation. “I think it definitely changes the dynamic of a game if you have a co-ed game, and I think it brings a lot of different arcs to the storyline that you’re playing,” she says.

The game has been running since March 2015, garnering hundreds of thousands of viewers every week, but one major mystery remains: What happens when this game ends? When I ask that question to each cast member, they all give some variation of Bailey’s answer – “I have no idea!”

“I know a lot of people are nervous about their characters dying,” Willingham says. “If I die, hopefully it’s in a blaze of glory, and maybe we’ll mourn my character for an episode and then some random-ass person comes walking into your world and joins the train.”

Though the mystery looms, Mercer is looking forward to whatever comes next. “Whoever survives will be sunsetted into legend,” he says. Then we’ll maybe take a little break, play a couple of small games in other systems to cleanse the palate, and maybe begin a whole new journey with level one characters.”

Johnson doesn’t know what’s next for Critical Role either, but she knows playing with this group of friends has given her a lifelong appreciation of Dungeons & Dragons. “If this game ends we would maybe start a new campaign or just go back to the living room and start from scratch,” she says. “I don’t feel like this group of people will ever stop playing D&D with each other, whether it’s this campaign or another one.”